


Well the cat likes him

by gemgirl28



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, But it comes up a lot, F/M, Fluff, Fuckbuddies, Implied/Referenced Sex, One Shot, Pining, Rating is for swearing, Soft Zuko (Avatar), i wrote this in one sitting, just a tad, no beta we die like men, no smut in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27171667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemgirl28/pseuds/gemgirl28
Summary: There weren't supposed to be any feelings involved in their arrangement. But then the cat starts liking him.Prompted by tumblr post in notes.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 35
Kudos: 245





	Well the cat likes him

**Author's Note:**

  * For [idontknowwhattopickforausername](https://archiveofourown.org/users/idontknowwhattopickforausername/gifts).



> Hello! Apparently I can't turn down a new idea, because I saw this post on tumblr [tumblr](https://phatprog.tumblr.com/post/632557730415214592/wait-hello-writer-mutuals-and-followers-please)
> 
> and this story came out of it. Please accept it as my humble (and probably not the best) offering for this AU.

After Jet, Katara swore she would never catch feelings for a fuckbuddy again.

She didn’t have time for a real relationship. She was fully married to her career and barely had time to take care of herself and her cat Luna. But she still had needs, damnit, and a fuckbuddy was the perfect solution.

Jet had worked out until he didn’t. The sex had been good but the second Katara caught feelings he ghosted her. It took her a full year to meet Zuko, and another six months before he agreed to her terms before they started fucking.

And once they started they couldn’t stop. Katara was certain she should put more time in between him coming over, should try to appear like she didn’t desperately need Zuko, but with they way he always came over after every text she couldn’t find it in herself to care. It was the best sex of her life and she was determined to enjoy it as long as she was getting it.

So she was careful to keep her feelings out of it. She had been upfront with Zuko from the beginning about what she was looking for. He never spent the night, never spent more than a few minutes cuddling after sex, and never texted her outside of arranging their hookups. It worked great for both of them, and Katara was feeling proud of herself for keeping her feelings in check. That is, until Zuko met Luna.

The first few months Zuko came over, Luna was always hiding around the house. She’s a pretty shy cat, and doesn’t take to people very well, so Katara didn’t think anything of it when she wasn’t running around when Zuko came over. But one day he came over while Luna was cuddling with Katara, and she was still in the living room when she let Zuko in.

“Hey Kat,” he said, already beginning to move in for a kiss before he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Well hellllloooo! Who do we have here?” he cooed, reaching around Katara to scratch behind Luna’s ear. Katara stared dumbly, mouth slightly agape, as her super shy cat started purring under Zuko’s touch. Somehow she managed to clear her throat and find her words.

“This is Luna. She’s usually pretty shy, but she seems to like you,” she offered, earning a rare smile from Zuko.

“She’s adorable,” Zuko said before standing and turning back to Katara. “Now where were we?” he asked before pulling her flush to him for a kiss.

It wasn’t until after Zuko left, as she was drifting off to sleep and Luna poked into the bedroom to settle at her feet, that Katara found herself mulling over the interaction.

_That was kind of cute of him._

The next time Zuko comes over he addresses Luna first, crouching down to greet her and scratch her face. “Heeeyyyyy buddy how’s it going?” he cooed, earning another purr from Luna. With a chuckle he stood and turned to Katara. “I can’t wait to have you purring too, Kitten,” he teased, his eyes darkening with lust as he pulled her in for a kiss. Katara let herself melt into his embrace. She was submissive in only this, and only to Zuko, and only because she didn’t have feelings for him. It was simply hot, the way he could break her down just to build her back up, and that was it. Right?

Their work schedules don’t line up for a month so the next time Zuko comes over, they don’t make it to the bedroom before they are making out. Katara straddles his hips for a few minutes, grinding down on his lap in a way that she knows drives him crazy, before rolling off to the side. She fully intended to pull down his jeans and take him in the living room, but at that moment her cat decided to jump into Zuko’s lap.

Zuko stared down at Luna for a moment before laughing. “Were you getting jealous buddy? It’s ok,” he whispered as he pet her. Katara blinked several times, her lusty brain struggling to form words before she cleared her throat.

“Maybe we should head to the bedroom? And shut the door?”

Zuko laughed and stood up, carefully placing Luna on the floor. Luna started crying, and he pet her a few more times before she _finally_ was happy and walked off. Zuko turned to her, his familiar gaze holding hers as he asked, “So, bedroom?” and pulled her along.

After they finish, when Zuko is going through their normal cleanup routine, Katara finally addresses the cat in the room.

“I’m uh, sorry about Luna interrupting earlier. Like I said, she usually is pretty shy and doesn’t like too many people.”

Zuko chuckled a little and passed her a glass of water. “It’s ok, she’s pretty cute. Don’t worry about it,” he said, pulling on his jeans.

Katara nodded but after Zuko left she found she couldn’t stop worrying about it. It was stupid to keep thinking about how well he treated her cat, and how much her cat liked him. Right?

After that Zuko makes a point of greeting Luna as soon as he walks in the door. It’s adorable, even if Katara is a little miffed that her own cat doesn’t like her as much as her fuckbuddy, and every time it gets harder to fight the way her heart clenches at the sight of Luna rubbing up against Zuko’s leg as he pets her.

She can’t ignore it anymore when one night, as she was letting Zuko out, Luna started screaming at him as he was leaving. Zuko laughed and leaned down to pet her and said, “Hey what do you want? Do you want to come home with me?”

It took everything Katara had in her to not blurt out _yes, I do,_ so she just mumbled an apology and wished Zuko a good night, scooping up Luna while he made his escape.

After that it becomes impossible to ignore the wonderful things about Zuko. Even though she limited their relationship to a contract, she still finds things that make her heart clench. Like the way he always makes sure Katara is cleaned up before he worries about himself. Or the way his eyes flash when they are in the middle of sex, golden and dark and beautiful. Or the way she catches him looking at her afterwards, his expression soft with concern.

After he leaves one night she tosses and turns, unable to truly fall asleep because she keeps reaching for something that isn’t there. Or rather, someone. She wakes up groggy and cranky and with one thought running through her mind.

_I’m falling for Zuko._

Katara spends the next week mad at herself for catching feelings because her fuckbuddy was nice to her stupid cat. She grumbled her way through work and dinner with her family, doing her best to plaster on a smile, but of course Suki saw right through it. She texted her the next day.

**_Suki:_ ** _Alright what gives? You haven’t been this grumpy since you know who ghosted you._

**_Katara:_ ** _Ugh it’s stupid._

**_Suki:_ ** _But it’s bothering you. What’s up?_

**_Katara:_ ** _Can we talk about this later? It’ll sound dumb over text._

**_Suki:_ ** _I don’t have any lunch plans. Want to meet at Bento?_

**_Katara:_ ** _Sure._

Suki had already ordered by the time Katara sat down. She pulled out her phone to send her money for the sushi and attempted to ask Suki about work, but she was on a mission.

“Kat, I love you, but something’s off. What’s wrong?” she asked.

Katara let out a heavy sigh as she picked at her food. “You know how I promised I wouldn’t catch feelings for a fuckbuddy again after Jet?”

Suki wrinkled her nose at the mention of Jet. “I seem to recall something about that, yes.”

“Well, I fucked up because Luna loves Zuko and now I’m falling for him too,” she said all in one breath. Suki held her stare for a moment before she burst out laughing.

“Not helping,” Katara grumbled as she aggressively picked up a piece of sushi. After what felt like ages, Suki calmed down enough to speak.

“Look, it’s not stupid. It’s just a little funny. I mean, you were dead set on this never happening again. How many revisions of the fuckbuddy rules did we go through before you finally figured it out? And now you’re telling me that’s all out the window because your cat likes him,” Suki says.

“Luna doesn’t like anyone! You know that!” Katara defended.

“Fair point,” Suki conceded, “so what are you going to do about it?”

Katara squirmed in the booth and suddenly found she was very interested in her remaining rolls. “I was thinking I could just… never tell him and then maybe he’ll get bored of me and that’ll be the end of it?”

Suki snorted. “You already know why I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Katara briefly looked up and nodded. “And I trust you already know what I think you should do?”

Katara sighed but nodded again.

“Look, babe, I get it, putting yourself out there again is scary. But if there’s even the slightest chance that Zuko could like you too, you deserve to go for it. And if he doesn’t want to, well, fuck him one more time and send him on his way,” Suki said with a shrug.

“You make it sound so simple,” Katara whispered.

Suki reached across the table to squeeze Katara’s hand. “I’ve found things are only ever as complicated as we make them,” she sagely said.

“That wasn’t what I was hoping you would say,” Katara pouted, and Suki chuckled a little.

“How about this, if he doesn’t like you back, I’ll help you hide his body and we’ll eat Ben & Jerry’s and binge Friends till you feel better, ok?” and Katara laughed, feeling a little relieved to know Suki was in her corner.

She decided to tell Zuko before they had sex again. She figured it was only fair for him to have all the facts before they continued their relationship. Or didn’t if that’s what he wanted. As much as she didn’t want to give up the sex, she knew she’d have to accept whatever he asked her to do.

He walked in the door right on time and immediately found Luna, sitting on the floor to pull her into his lap. “Hey buddy, how’s it going?” he asked as he petted her. Luna purred in response. After a few minutes of waiting for Zuko to stand, Katara couldn’t take it anymore and realized if she didn’t bring it up now, she never would.

“Hey Zuko,” she whispers, but he still looks up.

“Sorry, let me just-” and Katara cuts him off before he can move to stand.

“No, it’s ok, I just… needed to talk to you before we do anything tonight,” she began, and a look of panic flashed across Zuko’s face.

“Are you… pregnant? Because Agni I’ll do whatever you need me to do if you are,” he said, and Katara had to laugh a little at his outburst.

“No, I’m not pregnant. And before you ask, no I don’t have a STI,” she said, watching as he immediately relaxed.

“Ok. So what’s up?” he asked, and Katara had to clench her eyes shut. She couldn’t watch if he was going to reject her.

“I know I was the one that was adamant our relationship should be purely physical. And I know I put you through a lot of headaches working out our… agreement. But it seems that it was all for nothing because I like you Zuko. Like, catching feelings like you,” she rushes out.

It’s only silent for a moment before Zuko quietly asks, “You do?” and Katara’s eyes fly open at the hopeful tone in his voice. It matches the hopeful expression on his face, and Katara finally lets herself believe that maybe, just maybe, Zuko might like her too.

“I do. I mean, it’s pretty silly, the whole reason I started catching feelings is because of how adorable you are with Luna,” she huffs out a nervous laugh. Zuko’s entire face lights up when he smiles up at her.

“Well, that’s pretty great, because I like you too. Like, full on caught feelings for you,” he says, and now Katara’s grinning and she feels like an idiot but she really doesn’t care.

“You do?” she whispers because she just needs to make sure.

“I do,” he says, and Katara can’t wait anymore, she drags Zuko off the floor, Luna tumbling out of his lap with a small yelp, and kisses him.

The sex is different this time, less controlling and more caring, and that’s ok with Katara. Zuko spends the night, and she wakes to the smell of pancakes.

“If I had known you would cook for me, I would’ve let you stay the night a long time ago,” she teased as she wrapped her arms around him for a kiss.

“If I had thought you would’ve let me, I would’ve offered,” he said with a soft smile. At that moment, Luna starts crying, clearly upset that Zuko isn’t giving her attention. He chuckles and leans down to pet her. “I guess I should be thanking you. After all, if it weren’t for you, your mom never would have liked me,” he teases, straightening up. Katara rolls her eyes and accepts a plate of pancakes.

When he moves in with her a year later and makes pancakes to celebrate, she remembers their conversation. She doesn’t think it was quite true, saying Luna was the only reason she fell for Zuko. After a year of dating him, of adding time in her schedule for him, of meeting family and friends, of falling in love with him, she thinks she was always meant to fall for Zuko.

Luna just figured it out first.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments are very much appreciated! Also, come say hi on tumblr @gemgirl28


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